A love letter about collectable posters written in the form of a blog, from the staff at the L'Affichiste Poster Gallery.

Spring Renewal

You definitely know you are a Montrealer when, at the first sign of spring, you put your winter coats and boots away and start sporting shorter skirts (for women) and shorts (for men. Although if you’re my brother Greg you wear shorts all winter long in the belief that if you will it to be warm enough, it WILL be warm enough). Never mind that the snow hasn’t really melted (or melted for good), or that the slush is deeper than your average snow bank – it is at this time of year that we know for certain that spring will eventually make its way to our fair city.

Montreal in spring reminds me of Paris…

Spring has traditionally been a time of renewal and I certainly feel that for us at L’Affichiste, 2016 is and will be a time of rebirth. Trying to make the best of a bad situation (or lemonade out of lemons), when we received news that our lovely street in Old Montreal would be under construction for the better part of the summer, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to open a pop-up shop in Griffintown. We’ll keep our St. Francois Xavier space open and staffed, but in the event that the dust or trucks or noise overwhelms us (or all of it), you’ll be able to find some of us at Ludovik (located at the corner of Notre Dame and Mountain streets).

Two of our brand new Mads Berg designs – available only through us, and only after April 1, 2016

Griffintown is loft-central and our selection at Ludovik will include more contemporary pieces at prices that will largely be under $500, reflecting smaller spaces and smaller budgets. Hand-signed (and specially commission!!) pieces by our friend Steve Thomas, new designs by our favourite moustachioed Dane Mads Berg, vintage Opera de Montreal and Underdog posters … a little bit of everything, and all with the elegance and refinement that L’Affichiste is known for.

We also have some new faces at L’Affichiste – Genevieve (who has wide knowledge of art from both an educational and museum perspective), Holly (who is exuberantly helping us get ready for our Ludovik shop-within-a- shop), and Florence (who has helped out in the gallery, part-time, for the last few years . Lilian (the graceful, willowy and well-informed gallerista who currently works on Sundays and who will work more often once she finishes school in May) and Maxime (the mise-en-page expert who now knows just about as much about Julius Klinger as I do) help fill out the rest of the L’Affichiste team.

We love Steve Thomas and we are crazy about these quirky, affordable and striking posters. Hand-signed by the artist, they will be available after April 1, 2016 in the gallery and on-line.

In addition to the new Steve Thomas and Mads Berg contemporary posters, I have also been busy acquiring the vintage affiches for which we are best known. Italian travel posters, French exhibition posters, even a few arcane European political posters – a little bit of everything for both collectors and those who would like to become collectors.

We invite you to find us – in person or on the web – so that we can help you bring some L’Affichiste-inspired spring into your home.